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In the context of a job search a network means “an extended group of people with similar interests or concerns who interact and remain in informal contact for mutual assistance or support.”

A large component of a job search is networking. Networking skills will help you throughout your career in identifying new opportunities for career growth. Networking involves meeting people and talking to them about your field of interest or industry in an attempt to get information, such as locating possible job vacancies.Networking is not a process of making cold-calls to people you do not know. It is a process of talking to people you do know or asking them to introduce you to others they know.

Looking for a job is essentially a hunt for information. Everything you know about how to look for information is of use to you in your job-hunt. Following steps will provide a framework that will help you in finding a suitable job:

Assess yourself by identifying your own skills, talents, and interests:Know yourself. Have a strong sense of who you are. Know your assets and how to market them to employers. To know more about assessing yourself click here to go to the section ‘Identifying your Calling’.

Research businesses and job trends:Make a list of possible occupations which you would like to pursue, write them down and list information for each career area. The information collected on each career should include:

Job titles

Job Descriptions

Qualification Requirements (Degrees, skills etc)

Responsibilities and activities

Work environment

Accessibility factors (Location, assistance in the form of assistive technologies, etc)

Growth opportunities

Employment trends in the past years

Make use of library resources, and read trade and business publications, find out about the advantages/disadvantages associated with the field.

Arrange for a meeting with a person who is already in the field you want to get in:An interaction with a person who is already working in the field will give you an opportunity to get a glimpse of what you would be getting into once you get the job. Always prepare yourself with questions you want to ask and doubts you want cleared. Questions should be focussed, like how to prepare yourself to get in the field, what are the entry-level positions and what type of skills and abilities one requires to get the job done, what opportunities are there for professional development, etc.

The object of this meeting is to forearm yourself with relevant information that will enable you to get a better insight of the proposed career you want to get into.

After the meeting don’t forget to write a thank you note.With clarity in your mind about the career prospects and your interest in the field still prevailing, you are now set to chart your way ahead.

List potential employersList down the names of organisations and people you would like to contact for possible recruitment. The best places to look for organisations in your preferred work area are – directories, trade associations, newspapers, public documents, and internet.

Making the Call:Next step is to call on the people and organisations you have listed. You can make calls through -

1. Intermediaries – Placement consultants are a good channel for approaching your preferred organisations. They provide you with expertise in dealing with such organisations and may also provide value added services such as help in writing your resume and preparing you for the interview.

2. Cold Calls – Over phone or email you can directly contact a relevant person in the organisation, whom you don’t know, like the Human Resource Manager in a chosen company and enquire about job openings.

3. Networking – Contact people you know and inform them that you are looking for a job so that they can keep a lookout for a suitable opening in the organisation they work in or in their own network.

Determining the kind of work you want to do is essential for getting a job that excites you, a job where you will not only earn money but also enjoy yourself. Taking up a job without mapping it with your interests may be financially rewarding in the short-term but in the mid to long term it may ruin your happiness because you simply hate it.

The process of choosing a suitable occupation requires research. The following steps, which contain various brainstorming exercises, may help you in this decision-making process.

Deciding what you want to do is the first and the foremost thing that needs to be done by you before you set out to look for a job. You need to introspect about your interests and also research your external environment about that one thing you really want to pursue.

Determining the kind of work you want to do is essential for getting a job that excites you, a job where you will not only earn money but also enjoy yourself. Taking up a job without mapping it with your interests may be financially rewarding in the short-term but in the mid to long term it may ruin your happiness because you simply hate it.

The process of choosing a suitable occupation requires research. The following steps, which contain various brainstorming exercises, may help you in this decision-making process.

Deciding what you want to do is the first and the foremost thing that needs to be done by you before you set out to look for a job. You need to introspect about your interests and also research your external environment about that one thing you really want to pursue.

National Doctoral Fellowships

Eligibility Criteria:
Age: Below 35 years as on 31st of August of the year of application
Relaxation: 5 years in age limit for SC/ST, physically handicapped and women
Other: The candidate should be in the first year of full-time doctoral programme in one of the host institutions listed in the Annexure. Fellowship Details:
Number of Fellowships: 50
Duration: 3 years plus an extension upto 1 year
Value: Rs.12000 pm
Contingency Grant: Rs.25000 pa
Overhead Charges: Rs.20000 pa to be paid to the host institution

Ministry of Social Justice and Empowerment is awarding scholarships under the SCHEME OF NATIONAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR PERSONS WITH DISABILITIES for pursuing higher and technical education.

According to the ministry, there are 32 States and Union territories in the country that provide some sort of scholarships/stipend to the students with disabilities. Majority of States provide scholarship for education upto primary/middle level. Very few States provide scholarship to the disabled students for education beyond secondary level. Only Punjab, Tamil Nadu, Daman & Diu provide scholarship for college education. State of Andhra Pradesh provides financial assistance to disabled research scholars.

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Welcome to CAB, the Current Affairs Bulletin, your vehicle for success in competitive examinations.

Yes, minister: Government business

*November 2Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad was sworn in as the tenth Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir and People's Democratic Party leader Muzaffar Hussain Baig took the oath as Deputy Chief Minister.

*November 3The Union Cabinet gave its nod for setting up a new Government company, to be known as India Infrastructure Finance Company Ltd. (IIFCL), to fund mega projects.

The art of courtship: Legal affairs

*November 7The Andhra Pradesh High Court quashed the Andhra Pradesh Government ordinance providing 5 per cent reservation for Muslims in education and public employment, holding it unconstitutional.

Abroad mind: International developments

*November 7Myanmar has shifted its capital from Yangon to Pyinmana. The reason for shifting the government headquarters from Yangon in southern part of the country, which had been the capital since independence in 1948, to Pyinmana, the centre of the country, is to enable effective administration over the whole nation was the reason given by the government sources.

Report card: Economic information

*November 3The Union Cabinet approved the setting up of the National Investment Fund (NIF) and making it operational so as to clear the decks for ploughing of 75 per cent of its income derived through the disinvestment proceeds of Central public sector enterprises (CPSEs) for funding social sector projects. The balance 25 per cent is to be utilised for the revival of the ailing PSEs.

*November 7The Centre notified the increased foreign direct investment (FDI) ceiling of 74 per cent in the telecom sector with Indian owners in control of the management of companies. FDI to the extent of 74 per cent can be made directly or indirectly in the operating company or through a holding company with the remaining 26 per cent to be owned by resident Indian citizens or an Indian company.

*November 9To encourage more investors to hold securities in the demat form, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) waived demat charges except the statutory ones with effect from January 9, 2006.

Getting decorated: Awards

*November 1The research and development wing of Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) won the `National award for R&D efforts in industry (2005) in new materials' instituted by the Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, Union Ministry of Science and Technology.

*November 2Mukhtaran Bibi, a Pakistani woman, is to receive a “Woman Of the Year” award from the U.S. magazine Glamour.

Hire ground: Appointments and commissions

*November 7Ashish Kumar Mitra has taken over as Special Secretary (Internal Security) in the Home Ministry. Mr. Mitra, is a 1970 batch IPS officer of Uttar Pradesh cadre, and was Director-General of the National Security Guard. He has also served as Additional Director-General of the Border Security Force.

*November 10Usha Thorat has taken over as Deputy Governor of the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

*November 12Justice Ajit Prakash Shah, who was Acting Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, was sworn in Chief Justice of the Madras High Court. He is the 22nd Chief Justice of the Madras High Court after Independence.

Former president of the Indian National Science Academy Goverdhan Mehta, has been elected to the coveted post of president of the International Council of Science (ICSU). He is the second Indian to be elected to the post, after former Union Science and Technology Minister, M.G.K. Menon, who held the post twice from 1988 to 1990 and 1990-93.

Bats, balls and overalls: Sport

*November 117-year-old Sanam Singh from Chandigarh won the singles title in the ITF B1 grade Asia-Oceania junior tennis tournament in Bangkok.

*November 2North and South Korea will re-unite at the Beijing Olympics in 2008 by fielding a joint team for the first time since the troubled peninsula was divided 60 years ago.

*November 9Gurdev Singh of Services shattered the National record in the men's 50-km walk at the 45th National Open athletic championships held at Hyderabad. Gurdev's four hours sixteen minutes twenty two seconds broke the old record held by Kishan Singh also from Services at four hours nineteen minutes and forty eight seconds posted way back in 1970.

*November 10Naunidh Singh of Punjab set a new national record in the men's 110m hurdles timing 14.05 seconds at the 45th National Open athletic championships held at Hyderabad. He broke the existing mark, which was set by Gurpreet Singh at 14.07 seconds in 2001.

*November 11China unveiled a set of five doll mascots for the 2008 Olympic Games to be held in Beijing. The mascots, the fish, panda, Tibetan antelope, swallow and the Olympic Flame. Each of the Beijing Olympic mascots has a rhyming two-syllable name — a traditional way of expressing affection for children in China. Beibei (is the fish), Jingjing (panda), Huanhuan (Olympic Flame), Yingying (Tibetan antelope) and Nini (swallow).

*November 12India won the Videocon Cup cricket series beating Sri Lanka six to one in the seven match series. M.S. Dhoni was adjudicated as the Man of the series.

*November 13O. P. Jaisha from India won the women’s 3000 metres gold in the inaugural Asian Indoor Games held at Pattaya, Jaisha, clocked 9 minutes 38.43 seconds to win the gold medal.

...And everything else: Miscellaneous

*November 5As much as 30 per cent of the country's population is migrant, according to the 2001 census figures. Of the 1.02 billion people, 307 million are reported as migrants by place of birth or those enumerated at a place other than that.

*November 9K.R. Narayanan the former President of India, died after a brief illness in New Delhi. He was 85 and is survived by his wife and two daughters. He was country's 10th President, and held the highest office in the country for five years beginning July 25, 1997.

*November 10The 777-200LR Worldliner, one of Boeing's newest planes flew more than 18,662 km from Hong Kong to London in 22 hours and 43 minutes, breaking the record for the longest non-stop flight by a commercial jet. The previous record was set when a Boeing 747-400 flew 17,039 km from London to Sydney in 1989.

*November 11Peter F. Drucker, revered as the father of modern management, died at the age of 95.

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